Eurostar Plus vs Eurostar Premier – what’s the difference?)

Eurostar offers three classes of travel on its services from London to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and beyond, all the way from Eurostar Standard to Eurostar Premier.

Last month, Eurostar relaunched its travel classes. Standard Premier became Eurostar Plus and Business Premier became Eurostar Premier. The food in Eurostar Premier was also overhauled.

Based on a trip to Paris last week where I tried both cabins, I thought I would update this article and include pictures of the new meal service.

In this article I want to look at the difference between Eurostar’s premium cabins, Eurostar Plus and Eurostar Premier.

Our last full Eurostar reviews were in 2022. Our Eurostar Standard Premier (now Eurostar Plus) review is here and our Eurostar Business Premier (now Eurostar Premier) review is here.

How much more expensive is Eurostar Premier?

Let’s start with some typical pricing for the Eurostar service between London and Paris for a weekday trip in mid January. Here are the lowest fares in each cabin, outbound

• Eurostar Standard from £57
• Eurostar Plus from £114
• Eurostar Premier from £325

Eurostar Plus fares fluctuate, with prices on the day I picked varying between £114 and £252. Eurostar Premier has a smaller range, from £325 to £375 based on a one-way trip. Prices drop if you book a return.

These prices still represent fairly substantial differences across the cabins. A Eurostar Premier ticket will generally cost twice as much as a Eurostar Plus ticket and at least four times as much as a Eurostar Standard fare.

That said, when booked at short notice, the difference between Eurostar Plus and Eurostar Premier can be as low as £50 each way. If you don’t have lounge access via American Express Platinum or Fast Track via iProov then this is decent value.

At the station

Priority lanes

One of the biggest perks of Eurostar Premier tickets is the fast-track security and immigration. In theory, Eurostar Plus travellers must use the same, often packed, queues reserved for Standard passengers.

You can also use the priority lanes if you are a Club Eurostar Carte Blanche or Etoile member. To achieve Carte Blanche status you need to spend £2,420 on Eurostar tickets (2,900 status points at 1.2 per £1 spent) in a membership year.

You could get Carte Blanche status within 4-5 return Eurostar Premier journeys – and then potentially downgrade to Eurostar Plus for your remaining trips and enjoy the benefits of Carte Blanche for the rest of your membership year and all of the following one.

But don’t forget iProov ….

Eurostar is currently trialling facial recognition technology at London St Pancras. If you sign up for the trial (which only involves downloading an app and scanning your passport into it) you can use an exclusive security lane. This is even faster than the Eurostar Premier lane.

You can learn more about the iProov trial in this HfP article. Don’t tell anyone this, but despite what Eurostar says, ANYONE can use this irrespective of their travel class.

Lounges

Another perk reserved exclusively for Eurostar Premier and Carte Blanche / Etoile members is use of the departure lounges at London St Pancras, Paris Gare du Nord and Brussels Midi.

The lounges are genuinely good, although you won’t find much to eat. On the positive side they do feature an impressive cocktail bar and a good selection of magazines and newspapers.

Remember that you can also get access to Eurostar lounges by carrying an American Express Platinum credit card and showing it at the door. No guests are allowed, although you do get a 2nd free Platinum card which you could give to your usual travel companion.

On board

The seat

You may be surprised to find that the seats for Eurostar Plus and Eurostar Premier are identical, albeit at completely opposite ends of the train. This is what they look like:

As you can see, there are a range of seating options in a 2-1 configuration, with a number of single rows as well as groups of two or four with fixed tables.

Both classes feature free wifi and mobile and laptop charging via the USB and mains plug sockets, so there really aren’t any differences between the two classes.

Food and drink

One of the key onboard differentiators is the food and drinks service. Both classes get a free meal service, but in Eurostar Plus this is what Eurostar calls a ‘light meal’ served on a single tray, accompanied by red or white wine, beer or soft drinks.

Eurostar Plus food

This is what I received last week:

You’ve got chicken couscous with sweet potato, with a mini bottle of wine, a bread roll and a madeleine. A vegetarian option is also available. There are never any hot options.

It wasn’t bad, although not as good as a British Airways Club Europe meal (excluding afternoon tea!).

Eurostar Premier food

The Eurostar Premier catering has been overhauled in the last couple of months. A new wine list is also on the way although the company appears to be using up existing stocks first.

You receive a printed menu, although there isn’t a lot of choice:

Whilst in theory it is a four course meal, you receive three of the four courses at once. This means that your ‘starter’ actually includes the amuse bouche plus the cheese course and your dessert.

Because the main course takes another 15 minutes to arrive, most people tuck into the cheese course and dessert before they’ve had their main!

This is what I received last week:

The three trays contain:

• toasted rye, ufra biber and sweet potato (amuse bouche)
• Kidderton goat cheese with burnt honey (cheese)
• pumpkin seed and Malabar pepper tart (dessert)

To be honest, it was all pretty good. Each course had a little twist to it which made the taste a little unusual.

No champagne had been loaded for my trip. This was a bit pathetic, given that a large part of the menu is dedicated to discussing the champagne they serve. How hard can it be, given that each train only has a couple of bottles loaded anyway?

There is a hot and a cold option for Eurostar Premier main courses. For my train the choice was:

• baked salmon, black olive coconut rice, hot and sour potatoes

• grilled broccoli, herbal yoghurt and broccoli, roast potato gravy

I went for the salmon:

It was perfectly fine. However, the whole service does not scream ‘premier’, especially compared to Eurostar Plus. Serving the cheese and dessert courses 15 minutes before your main is weird, and the lack of champagne was simply poor planning.

Other differences

Flexibility

One of the major differences between Eurostar Plus and Eurostar Premier is the flexibility of the ticket.

Eurostar Premier tickets can be refunded up to 48 hours AFTER your departure time. You can also swap to another train up to 48 hours AFTER your original departure – you must pay the fare difference if the new train is more expensive, and there is no refund if your new ticket is cheaper.

Eurostar will find a seat on a train for you even if Eurostar Premier is full under its boarding guarantee.

Eurostar Plus ticket holders get slightly less flexibility. You can refund your ticket up to seven days before departure for a £50 per person fee.

You can swap your ticket for another train, on a different day if required, up to 1 hour before departure. You will need to pay any fare difference, and no refund is available if the new ticket is cheaper. Once your ticket is rearranged it can no longer be cancelled for a full refund (ie you can’t move your ticket out by seven days and then cancel it).

Seat selection

Both Eurostar Premier and Eurostar Plus (and indeed Eurostar Standard) offer free seat selection so there is no difference here.

Conclusion

So, for up to double the price of Eurostar Plus, what does Eurostar Premier get you? Fundamentally, it’s:

• Priority security and immigration (but you can get this via iProov)
• Lounge access in London, Paris and Brussels (but you can get this via American Express Platinum)
• An upgraded meal service
• Complete ticket flexibility

Is this worth the £50 – £150 jump in price you can expect to pay for Eurostar Plus? That will depend on what is important to you. If flexibility is key, as it is for many business travellers, it may be worth paying the premium so you can refund your ticket at any time.

I’d certainly consider spending the money if the difference was as low as £50, which it can be. The lounge and access to fast track security are worth that much, and if you’re spending over £225+ one way for Eurostar Premier then you might as well push on and spend £275 for the full service.

Of course, if you’re going on holiday and/or your plans are unlikely to change, you may be happy in Eurostar Plus where you get more personal space than in Eurostar Standard plus a light meal. For most travellers, Eurostar Plus is the sweet spot.

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How to get Club Eurostar points and lounge access from UK credit cards (April 2025)

Club Eurostar does not have a UK credit card.  However, you can earn Club Eurostar points by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards. 

Cards earning Membership Rewards points include:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 1,333 Club Eurostar points. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 50,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 3,333 Club Eurostar points. Card benefits include Eurostar lounge access.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 666 Club Eurostar points. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 15:1 into Club Eurostar points.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, so you will get the equivalent of 1 Club Eurostar point for every £15 you spend.

American Express Platinum comes with a great Eurostar benefit – Eurostar lounge access!  

You can enter any Eurostar lounge, irrespective of your ticket type, by showing The Platinum Card at the desk.  No guests are allowed but you can get entry for your partner by issuing them with a free supplementary Amex Platinum card on your account.